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The African National Congress
(ANC) strongly condemns this week's cold-blooded and gruesome murder of an
elderly woman and her three grandchildren in the Eastern Cape after being
accused of witchcraft. The latest murders in Kwaaiman, situated in
Mqanduli's King Dalindyebo Municipal area, have left a 65-year-old woman and
three grandchildren - two aged 13 and one aged 10 dead. The four were found
on Tuesday at their home with stab wounds.

We thank the police for their
swift response in arresting two suspects, apprehended with weapons said to
have been used in the murders

The incident calls for a launch of a special
and dedicated police unit to handle cases perpetrated in the name of
"witchcraft." Community beliefs and myths continue to fuel the targeting
for attacks of the most vulnerable members of our society in rural areas.

The ANC calls on all its branches - especially in rural areas - to
intensify the "adopt a neighbour" campaign, identify and stamp out any
tendencies alleging that some members of the community "practice
witchcraft". Working with community development workers (CDWs), ward
committee members, community policing forums and all organs of civil
society, people who detect such tendencies should immediately report them to
the police.

The Kwaaiman killings also call on the State security
establishment to come up with early warning and response systems to
effectively intervene in stamping out this scourge in society. Satellite
police stations should be staffed with dedicated well-trained police
personnel to detect and prevent these heinous acts.

The ANC also warns
those in our communities who engage in trafficking of human organs - a
practice that has inflicted fear in society, especially in rural areas - to
stop the practice or face the full wrath of the law.

We appreciate the
intervention - in the aftermath of the murders - of officials from the
ANC-led King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) and OR Tambo municipalities, working
with the provincial Department of Social Development, who are assisting
surviving family members with counselling and funeral arrangements.

The
Eastern Cape rural hinterland where poverty, under-development, lack of work
and job opportunities is rife, has seen an upsurge in gruesome killings and
other acts of violence targeted at elderly women and children. In the past
two years, communities in Baziya and Ngqeleni villages reeled with shock
following the senseless family maiming of elderly women by youths.